Autoritratto - Xintong Gao

 

Andrea Festa Fine Art is proud to inaugurate Sala Nova with the solo exhibition "Autoritratto" by
Xintong Gao. Opening on May 8th, 2025, from 6 to 9 p.m., and on view until June 20th, 2025, the exhibition is hosted at Lungotevere degli Altoviti 1, Rome, Italy. For this occasion, five oil and acrylic paintings are presented, offering an intimate reflection on identity, transformation, and resilience.

Although known for his abstract practice, Gao approaches the act of self-portraiture as a private ritual, marking pivotal transitions in his life. "When I moved to Bologna, it was a time of deep change. I erased what I disliked and, from that void, I made my self-portrait."— Xintong Gao.

 

His works arise from discarded canvases or fabric once used to clean brushes—materials layered with memory, imperfection, and the traces of past errors. "Underneath the self-portrait lies an abandoned work, a failure. I painted over it to remind myself that mistakes also carry value." -- Xintong Gao.

In painting over these remnants, Gao affirms the profound beauty of rebirth and the narrative power of imperfection."The fabric had been used to clean brushes for so long that no space remained. I was about to discard it when I suddenly saw something: a garden, a hidden reflection of myself among flowers."— Xintong Gao.

 

His self-portraits are not crafted from a classical mirror's reflection but from unexpected, humble surfaces—a dessert saucer, a forgotten fabric—places where new selves are glimpsed in the margins of the everyday."Usually, I make a self-portrait with a mirror beside me, like the old masters did. This time, it came from the reflection in a small dessert saucer."— Xintong Gao. 

Through Autoritratto, Xintong Gao invites the viewer into an act of introspection and resilience, celebrating the imperfect surfaces where transformation quietly blooms.